The British Film Industry –

SECTION A
LO: To identify who does what within the British Film
industry (PRODUCERS)
LO: To evaluate how the British Film industry
competes globally (AUDIENCE) and retains profitability

Thinking question: Why have a British film industry?

 Who does what in the British Film
Industry?
Aims to support, develop and
promote the art forms of the moving An independent, non-governmental body which
image classifies and censors film, video as well as
computer and console-based games released in the
UK.
Promotes understanding and appreciation of Britain's rich film
and television heritage and culture.

The official UK agency for international

cultural relations. Its Film Department
promotes new British films (features
and shorts), internationally
principally through festivals and
showcases.
Government backed lead agency for
film in the UK ensuring that the
economic, cultural and educational
aspects of film are effectively
represented at home and abroad.
 Main British Production Companies

Can you name films by these

production companies?

Ext: Who dominates the

UK film industry?
 Ext: How are
How do British they distinct from
films compete Hollywood
globally? blockbusters?
Most bankable star?
The Top 10 list as of 2009 (in order of
'bankable' value):

1. Will Smith
2. Johnny Depp
3. Brad Pitt
4. Tom Hanks
5. George Clooney
6. Will Ferrell
7. Reese Witherspoon
8. Nicolas Cage
9. Leonardo DiCaprio
10. Russell Crowe
 Weekend 20 Mar - 22 Mar 2009 UK box office
%
chang Weeks Numb
e on on er of
Country of Weekend last releas cinem Site Total Gross
Rank Title Origin Gross Distributor week e as average to date
1 Marley & Me USA £2,166,270 20th Century Fox -51 2 476 £4,551 £8,164,343
2 Paul Blart: Mall Cop USA £1,289,513 Sony Pictures 1 375 £3,439 £1,289,513
3 Duplicity USA £796,244 Universal 1 356 £2,237 £796,244
4 Lesbian Vampire Killers UK £648,634 Momentum 1 362 £1,792 £648,634
5 Watchmen USA/Can £594,510 Paramount -58 3 381 £1,560 £7,556,596
6 Gran Torino USA £484,808 Warner Bros. -41 5 311 £1,559 £6,659,193
7 Slumdog Millionaire UK £416,356 Pathé -45 11 384 £1,084 £30,471,084
8 The Young Victoria UK £387,399 Momentum -39 3 379 £1,022 £3,550,675
9 Bolt USA £201,250 Disney -58 6 441 £456 £17,546,419
10 Bronson UK £161,880 Vertigo -37 2 109 £1,485 £581,211
11 Confessions of a Shopaholic USA £158,414 Disney -63 5 307 £516 £8,051,255
12 The Unborn USA £126,630 Universal -68 4 188 £674 £3,669,708
13 Hotel for Dogs USA/Ger £119,041 Paramount -58 6 404 £295 £6,670,932
14 The Age of Stupid UK £101,752 Dogwoof 1 20 £5,088 £101,752
15 Il Divo Ita/Fra £71,952 Artificial Eye 1 30 £2,398 £71,952
  Total   £7,724,653       4,523 £1,708 £95,829,511
Answer this:

How much do you agree with

‘Hollywood films have movie stars. That’s why they are more
appealing to UK audiences than UK films.’
Starter task:

WITHOUT LOOKING
LIST:

1. The 5 main film bodies in the UK who

oversee the production, promotion and
classification of UK films
(ext: explain what each do)

2. The 5 main production companies and five

films they have made
HOMEWORK:

Brit-flick Kick-Ass tops US

box office

I want you to find out why

On paper/blog post a detailed

response and as much
evidence as you can find

Consider: Why is it deemed a

Brit-flick?
Who stars it in and how has this
helped it succeed
How was it marketed?
Who distributed the film?
RECAP

What do stars bring to a film?

Why do Producers use certain stars?
RECAP

What do stars bring to a film?

Why do Producers use certain stars?

1. Guaranteed sales – good box office figures

2. Fans
3. Narrative image - star persona/typecast
4. Interest and attention from the press – publicity
5. Expectations of genre
How else do
British films
compete
globally?
GENRE as a tool
How does genre help sell films?
Genre helps to meet audience expectations. If the audience can assume the
genre from the trailer, film posters etc, they can make an informed judgement on
whether they wish to see it or not. If their expectations are met, they are satisfied
and will recommend the film to others, leading to higher box office figures.

An example of misleading genre expectations:

By 2006, Julia Roberts’ 31 films had grossed over $2 billion and she had been
involved in more $100 million movies than any other female star

BUT

Julia Roberts and Mona Lisa Smile

Budget $65 million (large chunk of which was Robert’s fee)
North American gross $63 million

WHY???
Not a typical Hollywood model ending which led to younger audiences being left
unsatisfied and no love interests featured to drive the romance of the story.
Working Title formula for the ultimate ROMCOM

Using stars and genre to maximum effect

Combine 2 popular genres – Hybrid – ROMANCE & COMEDY

Deemed ‘chick-flick’ with a large female audience – so a strong female lead
Richard Curtis – screenwriter – linked to this genre
Hugh Grant – likeable and adaptable

This led to securing Julia Roberts (one of the most bankable stars) and succeeded
in making
Now I want you to find a recent successful film that has
used genre and stars effectively:
Note down:

The stars
The genre
The Production Budget
The Gross takings
And anything else that you think made it successful (consider marketing,
distribution company etc)
Weekend 9-11 April UK box office – audience consumption

http://infidelmovie.com/landing-trailer/
End thought:

Would the world be different if we

relied only on the American film
industry?
 Cinema 2000 &Working Title
• British cinema since 2000: The new century has so far been a relatively
successful one for the British film industry.
• Many British films have found a wide international audience, and some
of the independent production companies, such as Working Title, have
secured financing and distribution deals with major American studios.
• Working Title scored three major international successes, all starring
Hugh Grant, with the romantic comedies Bridget Jones's Diary (2001),
which grossed $254 million worldwide; the sequel Bridget Jones: The
Edge of Reason, which earned $228 million; and Richard Curtis's
directorial debut Love Actually (2003), which grossed $239 million.
• At the same time, critically-acclaimed films such as Gosford Park
(2001), Pride and Prejudice (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), The
Queen (2006) and The Last King of Scotland (2006) also brought
prestige to the British film industry. Although all of these films were
financed and distributed by American film companies, so there was
little financial benefit to the industry itself.
 Film 4 record breaker
• In 2008, British releases included the costume dramas The Duchess
and Brideshead Revisited, the documentary Man On Wire and a
new comedy-drama from Mike Leigh Happy Go Lucky.
• However the year was dominated by a single film: Slumdog
Millionaire, an Indian story that was filmed entirely in Mumbai with a
mostly Indian cast, though with a British director (Danny Boyle),
producer (Christian Colson), screenwriter (Simon Beaufoy) and star
(Dev Patel) and the film was all-British financed via Film4 and
Celador. Slumdog Millionaire has received worldwide critical
acclaim.
• It has won four Golden Globes, seven BAFTA Awards and eight
Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Film. This was
the first entirely-British financed film since Hamlet in 1948 to win the
Best Picture Oscar.
Despite increasing competition from film studios in Australia and
Eastern Europe (especially the Czech Republic), British studios such
as Pinewood, Shepperton and Leavesden remained successful in
hosting major foreign productions such as Finding Neverland, V for
Vendetta, Closer, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride,
United 93, The Phantom of the Opera, The Golden Compass,
Sweeney Todd, Mamma Mia!, The Wolf Man, Fantastic Mr. Fox and
Nine.The film industry remains an important earner for the British
economy.
 NMT = TUG for Film
• Tug used search marketing for Slumdog Millionaire’s UK Launch
• Tug used search marketing to create online awareness & user engagement for

SlumdogMillionaire’s UK launch
• FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PR Log (Press Release) – Mar 13, 2009 –
Tug, an independent search engine marketing agency located in Shoreditch, London, recently
impressed Pathe’s UK marketing team with the ability of PPC and SEO to play a key role in the film
release marketing mix. Pathe approached Tug to use search engine marketing to drive targeted
awareness, engagement and relevant traffic within a tight budget, for their new release, Slumdog
Millionaire. December 08, Tug launched a PPC campaign across the major UK search engines
targeting UK movie goers, the niche Indian market and independent film enthusiasts. Using a
combination of keyword testing & bid management and ad testing & copy optimisation, Tug
increased click throughs and drove the cost per click down throughout the campaign. Tug also used
SEO techniques to optimise the film’s flash microsite. A short link building campaign was put in
place to get the site to top position for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ searches in the UK. In addition, Tug
launched a banner campaign across the Google content network of websites on a cost per click
model. Standard banners as well as click to play video ads were served on relevant sites targeted
at the chosen audiences. The cost model meant that banner impressions and even the trailers
viewed within them were free – making awareness and engagement free. Ultimately Tug drove over
75,000 new visitors to the Slumdog Microsite, displayed the trailer online 73,000 times and served
over 21 Million ad impressions for only £13,000 over a 5 week burst. Pathe are pleased with their
first foray into search marketing and are working with Tug to develop a search marketing toolkit for
subsequent film releases in the UK.
 AUDIENCE TYPES

This research uncovered an audience typology that helped to inform the

department’s ongoing audience development activities. Briefly, the cinema types
uncovered were as follows:

Mainstream: unlikely ever to view anything other than major ‘Hollywood’ style
blockbusters.

Mainstream plus: generally mainstream, but apt to see less mainstream films
on a few occasions.

Aficionados: tend to view a mix of films, including major foreign language titles,
and can be encouraged to become even more adventurous in their viewing
choices.

Film Buffs1: eschew mainstream films in favour of more extreme, esoteric,

challenging and difficult subject matter (specialised) films.
Other UK films – 9-11 April 2010
Now answer this question:

Looking at the evidence, is the UK

film industry attracting the
mainstream audiences as well as
last year?
Questions for Box Office results
• What do these box office figures tell us
about the British Film industry?

Consider:
Country of origin
Distributors
Gross profit
• How is the British Film industry
responding to audience
consumption?

• Consider the relationship between

producers and audience
Facts in focus

• UK cinema admissions reached 162 million, up 4% on

2006.
• Box office receipts were £821 million, up 8% on 2006.
• 516 films were released for a week or more in the UK and
Republic of Ireland, an increase of 2% on 2006 and 58%
more than in 1998.
• UK films, including co-productions, accounted for 21% of
releases and 29% of the market by value, up 10% on last
year.
• The top 100 films earned almost 91% of the gross box
office, 2% more than in 2006.
• UK films are films made by British
companies and shot wholly or partly in the
UK and/or films that qualify as British
under Schedule 1 of the Films Act 1985 or
under one of the UK's official co-
production treaties.
• 3.2 Schedule 1 (UK film) certifications
• Schedule 1 films are films certified as British
under Schedule 1 of the Films Act 1985. Under
the old rules, the main qualifying criterion was
70% UK spend, but films commencing principal
photography
• on or after 1 January 2007 have been required
to pass a UK Cultural Test emphasising UK
elements in the story, setting and characters
(see UKFC website for full details of the Cultural
Test).
 CULTURAL TEST
• Cultural Test Points

• Cultural Content
• A1 Film set in the UK A2 Lead characters British citizens or residents
A3Film based on British subject matter or underlying material
• A4 Original dialogue recorded mainly in English language
• Cultural Contribution
• Film represents/reflects a diverse British culture,
• British heritage or British creativity
• Cultural Hubs C1Studio and/or location shooting/ Visual Effects/ Special
Effects C2Music Recording/Audio Post Production/Picture Post Production
• Cultural Practitioners
• Director, Scriptwriter Producer Composer Lead Actors Majority of Cast
Key Staff (lead cinematographer, lead production designer, lead costume
designer, lead editor, lead sound designer, lead visual effects supervisor,
lead hair and makeup supervisor) Majority of Crew
• TOTAL ALL SECTIONS (pass mark 16)31
How dominant is British Film in the
industry?
• Look at the box office figures:

• What can they tell us about British Film?